At least one woman at risk of self-harm, suicide and violence was restrained using ‘anti-rip’ clothing in English prisons for every day of 2024, an investigation by openDemocracy can reveal.
Anti-rip clothing is made from thick material and has reinforced seams that prevent it from being torn and used as a ligature. It’s intended as a “last resort” when women in mental health crises are at real risk of harming themselves.
But it was used in women’s prisons in England on 424 occasions in 2024, according to Ministry of Justice data disclosed to openDemocracy under Freedom of Information laws.
This is equivalent to one in every eight women in the prison estate being forced to wear it at some point last year. The prison estate includes women from Wales, where there are no women’s prisons.
Anti-rip clothing’s use often involves women in distress being stripped against their will so they can be made to wear it, according to the HM Prison Inspectorate, which is responsible for inspecting prisons in England and Wales.
The inspectorate warned earlier this year that the clothing is being used “punitively” and “without good reason”.
Our findings showed HMP Styal, a prison in Cheshire that houses around 450 women, used the clothing on 127 occasions last year – more than any other women’s prison. This was followed by Eastwood Park, which houses around 350 women, at 113 instances.
When openDemocracy asked for data on the use of anti-rip clothing in previous years, the Ministry of Justice said it only started counting instances where the garments were used partway through 2023.
Nicola Drinkwater, director of external affairs and campaigns for Women in Prison, a national charity that works with women in contact with the criminal justice system, described our findings as “deeply concerning”.
She said: “The frequency with which anti-rip clothing is being used in some prisons is deeply concerning and signals that women are experiencing severe distress and unmet mental health needs; needs that cannot be addressed in the unsafe environment of prison.
“From our work in prisons, we know that being forcibly stripped and made to wear anti-rip clothing is a traumatic experience for a woman already in crisis. We are concerned that in some cases, this practice is being overused, when other, less distressing de-escalation techniques could and should be employed.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told openDemocracy: “The Prison Service is working to reduce the use of force and new guidance makes clear that anti-rip clothing should only ever be used as a last resort to keep someone safe. The prison system that this government inherited is not working for most women.
“That's why the Lord Chancellor has launched a new Women’s Justice Board to reduce the number of women in prison, and better support those who must still be imprisoned.”
‘Worse than cancer’
The use of anti-rip clothing is a concerning symptom of the ongoing mental health crisis across the women’s prison estate.
Nadia (who asked we use only her first name) witnessed this crisis first hand when she was held in prison on remand. The charges against her, which she has asked us not to share, were dropped before trial.
“Arriving in prison was worse than the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Nadia said. “I was in a real mess and I couldn’t stop crying. I wanted to die.”
Arrival on the prison wing “was like walking into One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” she continued, referring to the novel about a psychiatric hospital. “There were so many women there who were clearly unwell. They were screaming and crying, banging doors and windows. There was so much noise.”
Many of Nadia’s cellmates had addiction issues. “They had a lot of symptoms relating to withdrawal,” she said. But despite the clear suffering and mental instability on display, staff seemed reluctant to help.
“You would ring the bell for help, and the staff would take 20 minutes to answer,” Nadia told us. “In that time, anything could have happened. They weren’t in a rush to come down. I could have been assaulted by my cellmate, anything.” She emphasised that while “there were some bullies, most of the girls were kind.”
Only 34% of women inmates said their cell bells were answered within the regulation five minutes, according to prisoner survey data published by the inspectorate between 2021 and 2025, and analysed by openDemocracy.
Some prisons reported much lower rates: only 12% of women in HMP Styal said their bell was answered within five minutes. The survey results are published alongside each prison’s inspection report.
Unsurprisingly, the toll of being in prison left Nadia feeling depressed and anxious. She was terrified that she would lose her house, her health deteriorated, and the lack of physical activity combined with a poor diet impacted her diabetes and muscle strength.
Even now that Nadia is home, the fear and trauma caused by prison remain. “I have PTSD,” she said. “I have nightmares. If a door bangs or I hear keys jangling, my heart goes.”
Safety for whom?
Nadia’s experience is not unusual. The acute mental health crisis behind bars can be seen in the latest government figures on prisoner safety, which reveal that there were 21,412 incidents of self-harm in women’s prisons reported in the year to September 2024 – a 7% increase on the previous year.
Women are responsible for just over a quarter of all self-harm incidents in prisons in England and Wales, despite men making up 96% of the total prison population.
openDemocracy’s analysis of prisoner survey data from inspections conducted between 2021 and 2025 found that 71.5% of imprisoned women reported having a mental health problem, with an average of 34% saying they did not receive support for their mental health.
Again, the numbers varied by prison: 43% of women in HMP Styal and Foston Hall said they did not get any support for their mental health needs.
One of the drivers of the mental health crisis in women’s prisons is the use of the estate as a “place of safety” for vulnerable women. A lack of available care in the community means that seriously unwell women who have not committed any crimes are being incarcerated for prolonged periods until they can be released into mainstream services.
The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record how many women with severe mental health needs are sent to prison as a place of safety, making it almost impossible to measure how often the power is being used. However, inspection reports provide some clues as to the number of women in prison solely on mental health grounds.
A total of 39 women were sent to HMP Styal “due to their acute vulnerabilities and the absence of specialised support in the community” last year, according to the prison’s most recent inspection.
Our investigation found Styal had the highest usage of anti-rip clothing.
The report noted that “prison was clearly not the right place for them as options for treatment were far more limited than in a hospital, and prison officers were not equipped to provide the necessary care, which required specialist health care support.”
Eastwood Park had the second-highest use of anti-rip clothing. In the eight months leading up to June 2023, 25 women held in the prison had a warrant that specifically mentioned ‘place of safety,’ ‘own protection,’ or mental health problems as one of the reasons for imprisonment.
The Independent Monitoring Board, a voluntary body that carries out prison inspections, found the number of women held on mental health grounds in HMP Bronzefield had increased by 110% over the previous reporting year.
Its inspection reported that 19 women were held in prison as a place of safety in 2023-24, compared to nine the previous year. Our investigation found that anti-rip clothing was used 81 times in Bronzefield in 2024.
